·         Born on February 1st in Ithaca, New York.

·         Grew up in a college town (not Ithaca) and got used to the academic life with her college professor father and artist mother.

·         Has lived in England, North Carolina, and all of the Midwestern “I” states—Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.

·         Spends part of each summer at a rustic property on Manitoulin Island, Ontario—her favorite place in the world.

·         Has had a life-long love/hate relationship with her name.

·         Began creating poems and stories before she could actually write so her mother recorded them for her. Most of these were about animals.

·         Loved reading and devoured books like, all the Marguerite Henry horse books, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,  The Yearling, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Pigman…

·         Developed the typical pre-teen girl obsession with horses, but her parents got her a dog instead.

·         Developed a life-long obsession with dogs (see pictures to right).

·         Worked at a wolf park in Indiana as a teenager and considered a career as a zoologist.

·         Decided her love of and talent for writing overshadowed her science skills, so she attended the University of Iowa, where she double majored in English and Journalism. Accepted into an undergraduate version of the famous Writers' Workshop, she learned a lot and brushed shoulders with famous writers. She stayed to get an MA in English literature.

·         Began teaching writing at a community college.

·         Has held a variety of jobs over the years, mostly as a writing instructor or writing consultant, but including a stint as a bookkeeper (a bit frightening given her inability to balance her own checkbook).

·         Married a man with political aspirations, who instead became a college professor (It is possible she was instrumental in this decision in an attempt to maintain that academic lifestyle.)

·         Has two sons, who constantly surprise her (in both good and challenging ways).

·         Usually lives with at least two dogs. Currently, both are rescue dogs, a sheltie, and    a bearded collie mix, who is the goofiest dog she’s ever had.

·         Her first major publication was in 1994 in the teen magazine Sassy (now defunct) for which she was paid $1000.

·         Has since published stories and essays in a variety of publications, including Many Mountains Moving, The Baltimore Review, The Writer, Indianapolis Monthly…. Many of these stories still include animals.

·         Seems to often be the “bridesmaid” with her writing, winning 2^nd place in the 2007 Family Circle Fiction Contest and the 2008 AKC Gazette Fiction Contest.

·         Has written three and a half novels: Still Life With Coyote (a young adult novel currently with an agent), A Little Menagerie (Women’s fiction), Cages (a middle grade novel), and Holding (a young adult novel in progress).